A Cookie is:
A very small text file placed on your hard drive by a Web Page server. It is essentially your identification card, and cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses. It is uniquely yours and can only be read by the server that gave it to you.
A Cookie's Purpose is:
To tell the server that you returned to that Web page.
How a Cookie Helps You:
It saves you time.
If you personalize pages, or register for products or services, a cookie helps the site remember who you are.
Next time you return, we know to show you the information you requested. Or, when you register for another product or service, all you need to do is type in your e-mail address and a password. We then fill in any questions you've already answered. Of course, if you never register or leave personal information with Microsoft, then the server only knows that someone with your cookie has returned to the Web site. You are in charge of deciding whether we know anything about you. But the more you tell us about yourself, the more we can help you find information or products you want.
- Microsoft

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Don't worry about them. Perhaps just accept session cookies, or first party or even per site.

Having play with this for a day I have restored an old image and have decided to live without it. I did start to find sites which required cookies and then I remembered that Crap cleaner removes them anyway. So on the basis that less is better and having concluded that they can do no harm during the brief time that they are on my machine I will stay as I am. Thanks for all the replies.

Attached Files:

sometimes you have to allow cookies. Clean / delete them later on the end of you session. BUT CCleaner is NOT enough!
You need a professional cleaner and take a look what INDEX.dat suite at http://support.it-mate.co.uk/?mode=Home
is doing as well !! Read threads about shredder and how to delete files securely and so on. It is NOT only cookies you should care about.

I allow them for trusted sites, and FF will clean them in the end. What am i missing?

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I was starting to wonder the same thing. Maybe I'm not quite paranoid enough, but I just keep a whitelist of cookies in CCleaner, to store preferences etc, and use it to clean up after each browser session. Plus not allowing 3rd party cookies. Plus some being taken care of by Spybot. Or the hosts file. Or Winpatrol.
Maybe I am paranoid enough.